I have seen two very big bucks before the season started and my farmer saw the same ones while he was cutting my corn. Seems the bucks are starting to rut, or at least getting ready to, where I live going by some of the ones I have seen at the processing plant killed in the last 3 days. Im trying to figure out where to hunt that would put me in the best position to bag one for my wall. They both hung out on the same side of my property. The only problem is I havent seen hardly any does on that side. The ones I do see have to be immature because they look to be about the size of my lab.

Now I have a stand back in the woods thats next to a road that goes down in the swamp and is covered up in acorns from all the oak trees. I also have another stand at the edge of a freshly cut corn field thats on the same side of my farm as that stand in the woods. Also theres a large number of does in that area as well as I usually see 3-7 come out when ever I hunted and they were big mature ones. They seem to be the same group of does I have seen in that area for the last 3 years cause they are always on my cams. Will those 2 big bucks cross my entire farm to find those does on the other side? Or will they stick to their territory and seek out any does on their side?. Just trying to figure out if I should hunt where I have seen those two bucks or hunt that group of does and hope a big buck shows up.

Well right now the bucks are transitioning from their bachelor groups to the first part of the breeding phase. Wne you saw those two bucks on that one side of the farm where there's not too many does is probably their core area and where they spend most of the year in the good 'ol boys club. But that will change soon!

I'd say concentrate on the does here in about two weeks or so. Those bucks will be going their own way in pursuit of them, and then they will increase the size of the area that you may find them in.

Should I bother with scents? I have never had much luck with them and I swear when I use them I never see anything at all. Also I weeded out some of the larger competition on the doe side of the farm last Saturday.

I gave up on scnets years ago. I could have gone on a guided elk hunt with the money I wasted on that stuff until I realized that it's mostly ammonia anyway. Try peeing in scrapes yourself. I do that now and while it doesn't work everytime, I've had better results with that than anything else.

Hunt the does. I have seen it happen time after time, year after year. You watch the bucks all summer and when the acorns fall and the does hit the woods the bucks vanish. It may be a week or two away but when the pre-rut hits you need to hunt the does. Check for rubs, scrapes and feeding areas.

Where was buck activity last year? Any reason to think it would be different this year? What did your post season scouting show? If they are safe from theft, your rut stands should already be up. The trick is to know where the bucks are going to be before they do. That is what post season scouting-Jan.&Feb.-shows you.

You should always hunt the does which means food areas. one step better is to consider the down-wind side of where the does feed. what a buck does is he will scent check all the does in a known feeding area (corn field) by walking the downwind perimeter side (where you should put your stand). he can check all of them at once instead of wasting time doing it one by one. if nothing is smelling to his taste, he will move on to another known feeding area of his soon to be female companions.I think using a doe in heat would work well here. I have used the "Code Blue" stuff that is a single doe in esterous bottle of urine. not a mix of 15 deer churned in a large holding tank. It costs about $11 but I have come to use this every year and I've had bucks come in 3 weeks before the "peak rut" to 2 weeks after the peak rut.if you want to draw does in, use some type of buck jam or molasses kind of product that has a scent to draw them in.Once the does are coming in to feed, then you can use them as live decoy's (the best kind) and use the doe in heat scent with it.

thomasmgp wrote:Should I bother with scents? I have never had much luck with them and I swear when I use them I never see anything at all. Also I weeded out some of the larger competition on the doe side of the farm last Saturday.

My view on using scents, calling, rattling and any other method. If you have to ask, you are far better off just sitting quietly and waiting.

During the rut, the right call at the right time can be deadly. The wrong call at the wrong time can be costly. Therefore, if you have to ask about calling, you don't know enough to be calling.

Some scents work sometimes. None work all the time and some can be counter productive. Therefore, if you have to ask, use common sense. It always works.

Rattling during the rut is at best, a 50/50 tool. However, rattling, when hunting a mature deer is 95/5. It runs them off 95% of the time. During the rut, mature bucks are not looking for a fight. They are looking for women.

Hunt the does, if you are sure the bucks are. With over 50-years experience hunting whitetails, I do 95% of my hunting on travel trails during the rut. This is when the bucks are traveling, constantly searching. I do not want to hunt a group of does that are either not yet in heat or have been bred expecting a buck to come by. I want to hunt the buck. My pre peak rut stands have been in place for a long time. I am just waiting for the right day, the right wind and the right temperature. I am not going to burn a stand hunting a hot day.

If you live in farm country where there are big fields that fill with does in the late afternoon then, hunting does may be a good tactic. Find where the buck(s) come to scent check the field, hang a stand and have your gun ready. If you are hunting woodlands, find the seldom used trails with the fresh signpost rubs and hunt that trail.

For most hunters, there is nothing for sale in a catalog that will help you kill a deer. No matter where you hunt, if it is rut hunt, bucks like cold weather. maybe not this cold. This buck came to a few, soft, cohesive doe bleats. However, he came an hour after I made them